THE  DEMOCRACY  AND  ITS  POLICY. 


A  New  Rebellion  Threatened— Frank  P.  Blair’s  Treason. 


SPEECHES 

OP 

50V,  BQUIWELL,  HU  THADDEUS  STEVENS  and  GEN,  SCHENEK, 


[Debate  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  July  11th,  1868,  upon  the 
passage  of  the  Senate  Bill  regulating  the "Counting  of 

the  Electoral  Totes.] 


Pullished  by  the  Union  Republican  Congressional  Committee ,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Air.  BOUTWELL.  Mr.  Speaker,  the 
purpose  of  this  resolution  is  so  apparent 
from  the  reading  that  I  presume  the  House 
will  be  prepared  to  vote  upon  it  without 
any  explanation.  The  object  is,  of  course, 
to  provide  that  all  those  States  which  may 
be  admitted  previous  to  November  next 
shall  be  entitled  to  vote  for  electors  of 
President  and  Vice  President ;  and  that 
the  States,  if  any,  which  shall  not  then 
have  been  restored  to  the  Union  shall  be 
excluded  from  participation  in  the  Presi¬ 
dential  election.  The  text  of  the  resolu¬ 
tion  would  exclude  Tennessee,  inasmuch 
as  she  was  fully  restored  to  the  Union  pre¬ 
vious  to  the  passage  of  the  original  act  con¬ 
cerning  reconstruction.  The  sole  object 
of  the  proviso  reported  by  the  Committee 
on  Reconstruction  is  to  relieve  Tennessee 
from  the  terms  of  the  resolution. 

Mr.  ELDRIDGE,  (Democrat.)  Will  the 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts  inform  the 
House  by  what  authority  this  House  or 
the  Congress  can  undertake  to  exclude  any 
State  from  the  right  of  representation  in 
the  Electoral  College  ?  Under  what  pro¬ 
vision  of  the  Constitution  can  Congress  de¬ 
clare  that  a  State  shall  not  be  represented  ? 
The  gentleman  seems  to  think  this  a  very 
plain  matter,  and  one  on  which,  I  infer  from 
his  remarks,  the  House  should  vote  under 
the  operation  of  the  previous  question ; 
and  yet  the  gentleman  has  not  undertaken 
to  give  us  the  authority  by  which  Congress 
can  exclude  a  State  from  representation  in 


the  Electoral  College.  I  would  be  glad  to 
hear  from  him  on  that  point,  and  to  under¬ 
stand  upon  what  he  bases  the  authority  of 
this  Congress  to  act  in  that  behalf. 

Mr.  BOUTWELL.  I  cannot  go  at  great 
length  into  all  the  circumstances  by  which 
these  States,  through  the  influence  of  the 
gentleman’s  political  friends,  lost  their  rep¬ 
resentation  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States;  but  it  so  happened  that  they  did 
withdraw  seven  or  eight  years  ago  and  they 
have  not  yet  been  readmitted  to  representa¬ 
tion  here.  But  I  say  to  him  that  I  suppose 
the  purpose  of  the  majority  here,  and,  I 
take  it,  the  purpose  of  the  country,  unmis 
takably  is  to  hold  these  States  in  the  grasp 
of  the  loyal  people  of  the  country  until  they 
are  reconstructed  under  loyal  influences, 
■with  loyal  majorities,  loyal  State  govern¬ 
ments,  and  until  loyal  Representatives  and 
Senators  are  elected  to  Congress,  but  when 
all  those  things  have  transpired,  then,  as  I 
suppose,  these  States  are  to  participate  in 
the  election  of  President  and  Vice  Presi¬ 
dent  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  ELDRIDGE,  (Democrat.)  The 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts  has  cer¬ 
tainly  not  answered,  if  he  has  attempted  to 
answer,  the  question  which  I  propounded 
to  him.  I  ask  him  for  the  authority  by 
which  Congress  may  exclude  States  from 
their  representation  in  the  Electoral  Col¬ 
lege,  and  he  tells  us  that  by  the  action  of 
myself  and  my  friends  these  States  have 
ceased  to  be  in  arposition  w hereby  they  have 


2 


4 


a  right  to  vote  or  to  act  in  this  capacity. 

I  say  to  the  gentleman  that  every  State 
that,  ever  belonged  to  this  Union  is  to-day 
in  this  Union. 

I  say,  that  if  the  States  are  kept  out  at 
all,  they  are  kept  out,  as  the  gentleman  as¬ 
serts,  by  the  grasp  of  what  he  terms  “loyal” 
men  upon  the  throats  of  the  States.  I  deny 
that  loyal  men  hold  any  States  in  their 
grasp  except  the  States  in  which  they  live. 
The  loyal  men  of  Massachusetts  have  no 
more  right  to  hold  the  State  of  South  Caro¬ 
lina  by  the  throat  than  the  State  of  South 
Carolina  has  the  right  to  hold  the  State  of 
Massachusetts  by  the  throat,  and  prevent 
her  from  voting  in  the  Electoral  College. 

T  ask  him  again  to  answer  to  me  and  to  this 
House  upon  what  he  does  base  his  right  to 
-exclude  a  State  from  representation  in  the 
Electoral  College  and  from  its  right  to  vote? 

Mr.  BOUT  WELL.  W e  do  not  claim  any 
such  right,  Mr.  Speaker.  All  the  organized 
States  of  this  Union  are  entitled  to  vote, 
and  will  vote;  but  in  13G4— I  believe  the 
gentleman  from  Wisconsin  was  then  a 
member  of  this  House — we  passed  a  reso¬ 
lution  unanimously — nobody  contradict¬ 
ing  it — that  the  eleven  States,  as  he  calls 
them,  naming  them,  that  had  gone  into  re¬ 
bellion  in  1S51  should  not  vo*:e  for  electors 
of  President  and  Vice  President.  How 
does  the  gentleman  account  for  his  neglect 
to  do  his  duty  then?  Why  did  not  he 
raise  his  voice  then,  and  ask  that  his  asso¬ 
ciates  and  coworkers  in  the  Democratic 
party  in  the  attempt  to  dissolve  the  Union 
should  come  here  and  participate  in  the 
Presidential  election  of  1804?  The  gentle¬ 
man  then  was  silent,  as  I  remember. 

Mr.  ELDBIDGE,  (Democrat.)  I  thank 
the  gentleman  for  the  opportunity  to  say 
that  the  country  was  then  at  war  with  the 
people  of  those  States;  to-day  peace  exists 
from  one  end  of  this  Union  to  the  other. 
The  armies  of  the  Union  have  been  suc¬ 
cessful,  the  rebellion  has  been  subdued,  the 
people  of  the  South  acknowledge  the  au¬ 
thority  of  the  Constitution,  and  their  States 
to-day  have  the  right  to  be  represented  in 
this  Congress  and  in  every  other  depart¬ 
ment  of  this  Government,  as  they  were 
represented  before  the  rebellion.  K  they 
•are  excluded  longer,  it  will  he  the  gentle¬ 
man  and  his  party  who  will  exclude  them. 

Mr.  BOUT  WELL.  The  gentleman  docs 
well  to  remind  the  House  and  the  country 
that  these  States,  as  he  calls  them,  were 
excluded  in  18G4  on  account  of  the  war. 
And  three  of  them  are  excluded  to-day  on 
account  of  that  war,  the  effects  of  which 
have  not  yet  ceased. 

In  18G0  and  1S61,  as  the  gentleman  very 
Well  knows,  the  Democratic  party  of  the 
Country  entered  upon  a  crusade  to  break 
up  this  Government  and  attempted  to 
wrest  eleven  States  from  the  control  of  the 
Constitution  and  to  separate  them  from  the 
Union.  Under  the  lead  of  the  loyal  men 
in  the  South  we  have  substantially  restored 
eight  of  these  States  of  the  Union  against 


the  protests  made  by  the  forty -five  gentle¬ 
men  who  sit  on  the  other  side  of  the  House. 

And  now,  under  the  lead  of  that  protest 
and  of  the  platform  laid  down  by  their  can¬ 
didate  for  the  Vice  Presidency,  they  pro¬ 
pose  to  again  involve  tlais  country  in  a  war 
for  the  purpose  of  thrusting  those  eight  re¬ 
stored  States  our  of  the  Union. 

This  is  exactly  the  position  the  Demo¬ 
cratic  party  now  occupies.  For  the  purpose 
of  destroying  the  Union  they  brought  upon 
this  country  one  war,  which  cost  four  thou¬ 
sand  million  dollars, and  three  hundred  thou- 
'and  lives;  and  now,  when  we  have  nearly 
restored  it,  without  the  sacrifice  of  a  single 
life,  so  far  as  the  restoration  is  concerned, 
the  Democratic  party  proposes  to  engage 
in  another  war,  under  the  lead  of  an  aspi¬ 
rant  for  the  Vice  Presidency,  who  is,  in 
fact,  a  conspirator  against  the  Government 
of  the  country,  and  this  for  the  purpose  of 
driving  out  of  the  Union  the  eight  States 
that  have  already  been  restored  under  our 
lead  and  under  the  power  of  peace. 

“War  for  the  destruction  of  the  Union”' 
is  the  motto  under  which  the  gentleman’s 
friends  and  former  associates  have  rallied 
during  the  last  eight  years;  it  is  the  motto 
which  he  and  they  now  emblazon  on  their 
banner  for  this  Presidential  contest,  and  for 
the  next  four  years. 

Oar  motto  is  “peace  and  the  restoration 
of  the  Union.”  And  so  soon  as  the  other 
three  States  can  be  restored  by  tbc  instru¬ 
mentality  of  peace  and  under  the  lead  of 
loyal  men,  they  will  be  restored.  We  work 
under  the  ensign  of  peace,  for  the  restora¬ 
tion  of  three  more  States  to  the  Union. 
The  gentleman  and  his  associates  raise  the 
banner  of  war  for  the  expulsion  of  eight 
States  that  we  have  already  restored. 
That  is  the  issue  on  which  we  now  go  to 
the  country. 

Mr.  ELDBIDGE,  (Democrat.)  The 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Bout- 
well)  cannot  fasten  any  such  position  as 
he  has  stated  upon  me  and  my  asso¬ 
ciates  ;  no  such  position  has  ever  been 
taken  by  us.  We  have  never  been 
opposed  to  a  restoration  of  this  Union;  we 
have  never  been  opposed  to  the  return  of 
these  States.  There  has  fcever  been  a  mo¬ 
ment  since  the  war  was  inaugurated,  or 
since  peace  came,  or  as  it  ought  to  come  to 
bless  this  land,  but  which  it  has  not,  there 
has  not  been  a  moment  when  we  would  not 
cheerfully  have  received  all  those  States 
back  into  the  Union. 

But,  sir,  there  has,  during  the  last  three 
or  four  years,  been  no  war  except  the  acts 
of  war  which  this  Congress  has  perpetrated 
upon  that  people  and  upon  those  States. 
The  people  of  those  States  are  broken  down, 
crushed,  trampled  into  the  dust  by  the  usur¬ 
pations  by  the,  I  had  almost  said  atrocious, 
acts  of  this  Congress.  Sir,  the  gentleman 
from  Massachusetts  knows  well  that  the 
only  reason  why  those  States  are  held  in 
the  grasp  of  despotic  power  which  he  calls 
“loyal  power”  is  that  he  and  his  associates 


3 


fear  that  those  States,  if  left,  as  they  ought 
to  be,  free  to  act,  would  act  in  accord  with 
the  Democratic  party.  The  gentleman 
knows  that  all  this  continuation  of  the  acts 
of  war  upon  that  people  is  designed  to  co¬ 
erce  them  into  the  support  of  the  Republi¬ 
can  party  and  its  candidates.  lie  knows 
that  he  and  his  associates  and  the  party 
with  whom  he  acts  would  never  have 
thought  of  subjecting  those  States  to  the 
control  of  the  ignorant  negroes  there  but 
for  the  purpose  of  extending  the  lease  of 
nower  of  the  party  to  which  he  belongs. 
He  dare  not,  upon  his  conscience  and  be¬ 
fore  his  God,  deny  that  that  is  the  sole  pur¬ 
pose  for  which  this  whole  scheme  was  inau¬ 
gurated  and  for  which  he  now  seeks  to  pass 
this  bill.  I  challenge  that  gentleman  to  join 
with  us  and  place  those  States,  as  the  Con¬ 
stitution  places  them,  upon  terms  of  perfect 
equality  with  his  State.  I  say  again  that  if 
this  doctrine  upon  which  gentlemen  upon 
the  other  side  have  been  acting  is  still  to  be 
carried  out,  the  day  will  come,  which  I  with 
'those  gentlemen  would  deplore,  when  Mas¬ 
sachusetts  may  be  upon  her  knees  begging 
for  the  rights  which  the  Constitution  guar¬ 
antees  her  and  all  the  States,  which  are 
now  denied  to  the  States  of  the  South. 

Mr.  BOUTWELL.  Mr.  Speaker,  no 
State  that  is  true  to  this  Union  will  ever 
have  occasion  to  go  upon  its  knees  begging 
for  its  rights.  If  the  Democratic  party  had 
been  true  to  this  Union,  as  Massachusetts 
was  true,  during  the  last  eight  years,  none 
of  these  States  would  now  be  here 
suppliants  for  restoration  to  the  benefits  of 
a  Government  which  a  few  years  ago,  un¬ 
der  the  lead  of  the  gentleman’s  friends, 
they  then  spurned. 

Now,  sir,  one  word  more,  which  I  would 
be  glad  to  address  to  the  people  of  the 
Soutii.  In  18G0  and  1861,  Democrats  of 
the  North— suck  men  as  Franklin  Pierce, 
of  New  Hampshire — encouraged  the  rebels 
of  the  South  to  engage  in  war,  telling  them 
that  in  the  event  of  such  a  contest  blood 
would  How  in  the  streets  of  the  North,  in¬ 
tending  it  to  be  understood  that  the  Demo¬ 
crats  of  the  North  would  give  the  Radicals, 
as  we  were  called,  plenty  to  do  at  home, 
so  that  the  twelve  or  fifteen  States  of  the 
South  would  have  an  opportunity  to  set 
up  governments  of  their  own  in  defiance  of 
the  national  authority.  The  rebels  of  the 
South  were  deceived.  The  Democrats  of 
the  North  had  not  the  courage  or  the  heart 
to  make  good  the  pledges  which  they  had 
given  to  their  traitorous  allies  in  the  South; 
and  the  Southern  men  were  sacrificed — in 
an  unholy  enterprise,  to  be  sure— because 
they  were  deserted  by  the  men  in  the 
North  on  whom  they  had  relied. 

Again,  in  1865,  when  Andrew  Johnson 
came  to  the  Presidency,  the  men  of  the 
South  trusted  to  his  professions  and  the 
professions  of  the  Democratic  party,  that 
they  would  be  sustained  in  their  attempt 
to  reorganize  rebel  white  men’s  govern¬ 
ments  and  to  trample  under  foot  the  loyal 


white  and  black  men  of  the  South.  In  that 
they  were  disappointed;  and  they  are  now 
reaping  the  bitter  fruits  of  their  reliance 
upon  Mr.  Johnson  and  the  Democracy  of 
the  North. 

TV~hat  does  the  Democratic  party  by  its 
late  action  in  New  York  promise  the  South? 
It  says, “If  we  can  electa  Democratic  Pres¬ 
ident  and  Vice  President,  a  “white  man’s 
government”  shall  be  reestablished  in  the 
eight  States  of  the  South.”  Thus  the  De¬ 
mocracy  would  again  deceive  the  men  of 
the  South,  whom  I  warn  no  longer  to  put 
trust  in  that  party.  Whatever  may  happen, 
the  Senate  will  be  Republican  for  the  next 
two  years.  We  have  already  relieved 
twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  men  of  the  South 
who  participated  in  the  rebellion  from  the 
disabilities  imposed  by  the  fourteenth 
amendment  to  the  Constitution.  Our  pur¬ 
pose  is,  as  far  and  as  fast  as  they  bring 
forth  “fruits  meet  for  repentence,”  to 
liberate  them  all.  But  if  by  accident 
or  by  a  fatality  which  seems  outside  the 
range  of  providential  influences,  the  De¬ 
mocracy  should  succeed  in  the  election  of 
a  President,  what  can  they  do  for  the 
South?  Nothing — nothing.  We  shall  be 
obliged  to  stand  upon  the  defensive  and 
hold  all  these  men  for  four  years  where 
they  now  are,  and  the  Democracy  will  be 
powerless  to  redeem  a  single  promise  they 
now  make.  The  interest  of  the  South,  of 
the  men  who  have  been  in  the  rebellion,  is 
to  stand  fast  by  the  Republican  party, 
which  has  shown  a  disposition  to  be  just 
and  generous  to  every  man  who  was  en¬ 
gaged  in  the  rebellion  when  we  can  do  so 
without  danger  to  republican  institutions. 

But,  sir,  look  at  the  letter  of  Frank  Blair. 
[Cries  of  “Read  it !”  from  the  Republican 
side  of  the  House.  ]  Y es,  sir,  let  it  be  read. 
It  cannot  be  read  too  often  in  the  presence 
of  the  forty-five  men  who  signed  and  pre¬ 
sented  a  protest  here  against  the  admission 
of  members  from  the  State  of  Arkansas, 
upon  the  same  grounds  substantially  as 
those  presented  in  Blair’s  letter. 

The  Clerk  read  as  follows: 

Washixgtox,  June  SO,  1868. 

Dear  Cocohel  :  In  reply  to  your  inquiries  I 
beg  leave  to  say  that  I  leave  you  to  determine, 
on  consultation  with  my  friend3  from  JLissouri, 
whether  my  name  shall  be  presented  to  the  Dem¬ 
ocratic  convention,  and  to  submit  the  following, 
a3  what  I  consider  the  real  and  only  issue  in  this 
contest : 

The  reconstruction  policy  of  the  Radicals  will 
be  complete  before  the  nest  election ;  the  State3 
so  loeg  excluded  will  have  been  admitted;  negro 
suffrage  established  and  the  carpet-baggers  ini 
stalled  in  their  sea's  in  both  branches  of  Congress. 
*  here  is  no  possibility  of  changing  tho  political 
character  of  the  Senate,  even  if  the  Democrats 
should  elect  their  President  and  a  majority  of  the 
popular  branch  of  Congress.  V7e  cannot,  therc- 
lore,  undo  the  Radic  il  plan  of  reconstruction  by 
Congressional  setion;  the  senate  will  continue  a 
bar  to  its  repeal.  Must  we  submit  to  it?  How 
can  it  be  overthrown?  It  can  only  bo  overthrown 
by  the  authority  of  the  Executive,  who  is  sworn 
to  maintain  the  Constitution,  and  who  will  fail 
to  do  his  duty  if  he  «l!ows  tne  Cons.itutlon  to 
perish  under  a  series  of  Congressional  enactments 
which  are  ia  palpable  violation  of  its  funda¬ 
mental  principles. 

iithi  President  elected  by  the  Democracy  en- 


4 


forces  or  permits  others  to  enforce  these  recon- 
»truction  acts,  the  Radicals  by  the  accession  of 
twenty  spurious  Senators  ana  fifty  Representa¬ 
tives  will  control  both  branches  of  Congress,  and 
his  administration  will  be  as  powerless  as  the 
present  one  cf  Mr.  Johnson. 

•  There  is  but  one  way  to  restore  the  Government 
and  the  Constitution,  and  that  is  for  the  Presi¬ 
dent  elect  to  declare  these  acts  null  and  void, 
compel  the  Army  to  undo  its  usurpations  at  the 
South,  disperse  the  carpet-bag  State  govern¬ 
ments,  ailow  the  white  people  to  reorganize  their 
own  governments,  and  elect  Senators  and  Repre¬ 
sentatives.  The  House  of  Representatives  will 
contain  a  majority  of  Democrats  from  the  North, 
and  they  will  admit  the  Representatives  elected 
by  the  white  people  of  the  South,  and  with  the 
co-operation  of  the  President  it  will  not  be  diffi¬ 
cult  to  compel  the  Senate  to  submit  once  more  to 
the  obligations  of  the  Constitution.  It  wMl  not 
be  able  to  withstand  the  public  judgment,  if  dis¬ 
tinctly  invoked  and  clearly  expressed  on  this  fun¬ 
damental  issue,  and  it  is  the  sure  way  to  avoid  all 
future  strife  to  put  the  issue  plainly  to  the 
country. 

I  repeat  that  this  is  the  real  and  only  question 
which  we  should  allow  to  control  us :  shall  we  sub¬ 
mit  to  the  usurpations  by  which  the  Government 
has  been  overthrown,  or  shall  we  exert  ourselves 
for  its  full  and  complete  restoration!  It  is  idle  to 
talk  of  bonds,  greenbacks,  gold,  the  public  faith, 
and  the  public  credit.  What  can  a  Democratic 
President  do  in  regard  to  any  of  these  with  a 
Congress  in  both  branches  controlled  by  carpet¬ 
baggers  and  their  allies!  He  will  bo  powerless 
to  stop  the  supplies  by  which  idle  negroes  are  or¬ 
ganized  into  political  clubs— by  which  an  army  is 
maintained  to  protect  these  vagabonds  in  their 
outrages  upon  the  ballot.  These,  and  things  like 
these,  eat  up  the  revenues  and  resources  of  the 
Government  and  destroy  its  credit— make  the  dif¬ 
ference  between  gold  and  greenbacks.  We  must 
restore  the  Constitution  before  we  can  restore  the 
finances,  and  to  do  this  we  must  have  a  President 
who  will  execute  the  will  of  the  people  by  tramp¬ 
ling  into  dust  the  usurpation  of  Congress,  known 
as  the  reconstruction  acts.  Iwishto  stand  before 
the  convention  upon  this  issue,  but  it  is  one  which 
embraces  everythig  else  that  is  of  value  in  its 
large  and  comprehensive  resuts.  It  is  the  one 
thing  that  includes  all  that  is  worth  a  contest, 
and  without  it  there  is  nothing  that  gives  dignity, 
honor,  or  value  to  tho  struggle. 

Your  friend,  FRANK  P.  BLAIR. 

Colonel  James  O.  Bbodhead. 

Mr.  BROOKS,  (Democrat.)  If  the 
gentleman  will  go  on  and  have  the  Demo¬ 
cratic  platform  read  it  will  then  be  com¬ 
plete. 

Mr.  BOUTWELL.  We  have  had  it  read 
already. 

Mr.  BROOKS.  I  mean  the  platform 
adopted  by  the  Democratic  convention. 

Mr.  BOUTWELL.  Mr.  Speaker,  it  is 
worthy  of  observations  that  the  Democratic 
convention  at  New  York  sat  four  days, 
differing,  I  suppose,  judging  from  their 
votes,  as  to  who  should  be  their  candidate 
for  the  Presidency,  and  after  the  disposi¬ 
tion  of  that  question,  on  a  single  ballot  and 
with  perfect  unanimity, they  nominated  the 
writer  of  this  letter  to  he  their  candidate 
for  the  Vice  Presidency  of  the  United 
States.  Now,  what  does  he  propose  to  do? 
He  proposes  that  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  without  law,  and  of  course 
without  constitutional  authority,  shall  take 
the  army  and  drive  out  of  this  House  and 
out  of  the  Senate  the  members  entitled 
by  operation  of  law  and  under  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitution  to  seats  in 
this  House  and  in  the  Senate  ;  and  not 
only  that,  but  to  proceed  with  the  army  to 
the  eight  States  in  the  South  and  disperse 


the  Legislatures  thereof,  set  up  new  Legis¬ 
lative  Assemblies  to  be  elected  by  the  votes 
of  rebel  white  men  only,  and  Senators  and 
Representatives  are  to  be  elected  by  those 
men  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
and  by  the  military  power  to  be  put  into 
their  seats.  It  is  distinctly  declared  by 
Frank  P.  Blair,  jr.,  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  a  Dem¬ 
ocratic  President  of  the  United  States,  to 
usurp  the  powers  of  the  Senate  and  of  the 
House  and  to  annihilate  eight  States  by 
arms  and  to  set  up  military  governments  in 
those  eight  States. 

Mr.  MUNGEN,  (Democrat.)  Will  the 
gentleman  let  me  ask  him  a  question? 

Mr.  BOUTWELL.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  MUNGEN.  I  ask  the  gentleman 
where  he  was  when  Frank  Blair  was  fight¬ 
ing  the  battles  of  his  country? 

Mr.  BOUTWELL.  I  was  in  the  service 
of  the  country;  but  one  thing  I  never  did 
— I  never  professed  to  serve  under  a  com¬ 
mission  as  a  general  in  the  army,  and  to 
serve  in  this  House  as  a  member  of  Con¬ 
gress,  exercising  civil  functions  and  mili¬ 
tary  authority  at  the  same  time,  in  viola¬ 
tion  of  the  Constitution  and  the  theory  of 
the  Government  of  the  Uuited  States. 

[Mr.  Brooks  made  a  somewhat  leDgthv  reply, 
after  which  Governor  BouTWiix  resumed  the 
floor,  and  yielded  it  to  Mr.  Stevens.] 

Mr.  STEVENS,  of  Pennsylvania.  I 
merely  want  to  inquire  of  the  gentleman 
from  New  York  (Mr.  Brooks)  whether  he 
recollects  that  in  1864,  before  the  last 
Presidential  election,  this  Congress  passed 
a  law  similar  to  the  one  now  before  us,  to 
regulate  the  opening  and  counting  of  the 
electoral  votes;  and  by  that  law  we  ex¬ 
cluded  from  the  count  all  the  States  in 
rebellion,  thus  showing  at  least  the  juris¬ 
diction  of  Congress  upon  this  subject? 

Mr.  BROOKS.  Let  me  ask  the  gentle¬ 
man  from  Pennsylvania  whether  the  exist¬ 
ing  state  of  the  country  now  in  1868  is  not 
very  different  from  what  it  was  at  the  time 
to  which  he  alludes? 

Mr.  STEVENS,  of  Pennsylvania.  Not 
a  bit.  [Laughter,] 

Mr.  BROOKS.  Are  we  iu  a  state  of  re¬ 
bellion? 

Mr.  STEVENS,  of  Pennsylvania.  You 
are  in  a  state  of  rebellion,  and  Frank  Blair 
so  declares.  He  declares  that  the  only 
course  for  the  Democratic  party  is  to  elect 
a  President  who  shall  send  the  armies  of 
the  Union  to  uproot  all  we  have  done  in 
reconstructing  the  South,  forcibly  deprive 
of  the  right  of  suffrage  about  half  of  the 
legal  voters,  reestablish  the  institution  of 
slavery,  reorganize  the  “white  man’s  gov¬ 
ernment,”  and  enforce  as  the  law  of  that 
country  not  what  Congress  pays  shall  be 
the  law,  but  what  he  and  the  Democratic 
party  may  determine.  Is  no>i  that  rebel¬ 
lion? 

Mr.  BROOKS.  Sir,  tln»  Democratic 
party  is  always  in  rebellion  a#  sunst  tyranny 
and  tyrants. 


5 


Mr.  STEVENS,  of  Pennsylvania.  So 
it  is;  and  anything  but  a  “white  man’s 
Government” — a  “Democratic”  Govern- 
ment — is  with  that  party  “tyranny.”  They 
are  always  in  rebellion  against  everything 
but  “Democratic,”  pro-slavery  rule.  For 
slavery  is  as  the  apple  of  their  eye;  slavery 
they  “roll  like  a  sweet  morsel  under  their 
tongues.”  And  when  the  Republicans 
have  stricken  slavery  from  the  institutions 
of  this  country,  declaring  every  man  as 
free  as  air,  the  Democracy  call  upon  the 
people  to  elect  a  President  who  shall  re¬ 
establish  the  old  Government,  (those  are 
the  very  words,  I  believe,)  a  President 
who  shall  exclude  from  the  ballot  a  large 
part  of  the  present  voters,  and  allow  the 
right  of  suffrage  to  those  only  who  enjoyed 
thehaght  under  the  old  slave  system. 

But,  sir,  I  rose  simply  to  show  that 
Congress  possesses  jurisdiction  of  this  sub¬ 
ject,  which  the  gentleman  from  New  York 
denied.  We  exercised  jurisdiction  before 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected  the  second  time. 
We  passed  a  law  to  exclude  in  the  Presi¬ 
dential  election  the  votes  of  the  rebel 
States.  That  settles  the  question  of  juris¬ 
diction.  So  that  the  only  question  is  as  to 
the  expediency  of  the  proposed  law. 

Mr.  BROOKS.  Let  me  ask  thv  gentle¬ 
man  a  question.  From  what  provision  of 
the  Constitution,  unless  it  be  that  with  re¬ 
gard  to  suppressing  insurrection  and  rebel¬ 
lion,  does  he  derive  the  authority  to  pass 
such  a  bill  as  this? 

Mr.  STEVENS,  of  Pennsylvania.  I  de¬ 
rive  it  from  the  provision  giving  Congress 
authority  to  open  and  count  the  electoral 
votes.  Of  course  we  are  to  provide  tke 
means  by  which  that  shall  be  done.  Should 
Canada  be  allowed  to  send  in  electoral 
votes?  And  on  the  same  principle  have 
we  not  the  power  to  exclude  the  rebel 
States?  Yet  they  were  always  in  the  Union, 
they  were  always  entitled  to  be  represented 
here,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  gen¬ 
tleman  and  his  slavery  tribe,  for  it  is  nothing 
better.  The  Democratic  party !  Why,  sir, 
it  is  the  slave  party.  It  is  nothing  but  a 
slave  party,  and  it  will  be  a  slave  party 
until  we  grind  them  to  powder  under  our 
heels,  and  Freedom,  with  the  flapping  of 
her  wings,  shall  blow  the  dust  out  of  ex¬ 
istence  and  consign  them  to  everlasting 
oblivion.  God  grant  that  day  may  soon 
come!  [Laughter.] 

[Mr.  Boutwell  having  twelve  minutes  left 
yie'ded  five  to  mr.  Beck,  (Democrat,)  of  Ky.,  who 
followed  ] 

“Mr.  BOUT  WELL.  I  now  demand  the 
previous  question,  and  after  it  is  seconded 
I  will  reply  to  remarks  made  by  gentlemen 
on  the  other  side. 

Mr.  ELDRIDGE,  (Democrat.)  I  ask 
for  a  division  on  seconding  the  previous 
question.  I  do  not  think  the  House  is  pre¬ 
pared  to  second  it. 

The  question  being  then  taken,  there 
were— ayes  81,  noes  22. 

So  the  main  question  was  seconded. 


Mr.  ELDRIDGE.  I  only  wanted  to  see 
how  many  Democrats  were  out  of  their 
places.  [  Laughter.  ] 

Mr.  STEVENS,  of  Pennsylvania.  Every 
one  is  out  of  his  place  that  is  here. 
[Laughter.] 

The  main  question  was  then  ordered. 

Mr.  BOUT  WELL.  I  do  not  wish  to  oc¬ 
cupy  much  time  in  debate.  The  House 
will  bear  witness  that  I  was  brought  into 
the  political  discussion  by  the  question  or 
series  of  questions  which  were  put  by  the 
gentleman  from  Wisconsin,  (Mr.  El- 
dridge.)  But  now  I  have  a  few  observa¬ 
tions  to  make  upon  those  matters  which 
have  been  introduced  during  the  discussion 
on  the  one  side  and  the  other. 

The  gentleman  from  New  York  (Mr. 
Brooks)  was  pleased  to  speak  of  me  per¬ 
sonally  and  of  gentlemen  on  this  side  of 
the  House  as  having  in  times  past  disre¬ 
garded  the  laws  of  the  land.  Sir,  I  know 
of  no  such  case.  And  when  I  speak  of 
myself  personally  I  speak  also  of  the  party 
to  which  I  belong.  We  have  obeyed  the 
laws  at  all  times  and  under  all  circum¬ 
stances,  when,  as  I  am  free  to  confess, 
those  laws  were  disagreeable  in  their  char¬ 
acter  and  of  doubtful  constitutionality. 
But  can  the  gentleman  say  as  much  for 
himself  and  for  his  associates?  In  1860,  by 
the  strictest  observance  of  the  Constitution 
and  laws  of  the  country  wre  elected  Abra¬ 
ham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  President  of  the 
United  States.  Three  months  before  his 
inauguration  that  State  which  was  the 
champion  of  the  ancient,  pro-slavery,  se¬ 
cession,  disunion  Democracy  passed  an  or¬ 
dinance  of  secession  from  the  Union  in  vio¬ 
lation  of  the  laws  and  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  country,  and  followed  by  ten  other 
of  these  eleven  States,  they  for  four  long 
years  under  the  lead  of  the  Democracy  of 
the  South,  and  with  the  sympathy,  coopera¬ 
tion,  and  support  of  the  Democracy  of  the 
North,  carried  on  a  war  aggressive  always, 
and  sometimes  formidable,  against  the  laws 
and  Constitution  of  the  country. 

(Mr.  Marshall  (Democrat)  then  obtaining  tho 
floor,  denied  emphatically  that  the  INorihern 
Democrats  were  in  any  way  or  at  any  place 
justly  chargeable  with  sympathising  with  South¬ 
ern  rebellion.  To  this  Mr.  Boutwell  replied:] 

Mr.  BOUTWELL.  I  resume  the  floor. 
The  gentleman  cannot  have  forgotten  the 
letter  of  his  leader,  Franklin  Pierce,  of  the 
16th  of  January,  1861.  He  cannot  have 
forgotten  the  letter  of  his  associate  upon 
this  floor,  when  Mayor  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  to  the  authorities  of  Savannah,  in 
the  State  of  Georgia.  He  cannot  have  for¬ 
gotten  the  resolution  of  the  convention  at 
Chicago  in  August,  1864,  declaring  the 
war  a  failure  and  demanding  a  cessation  of 
hostilities.  He  cannot  have  forgotten  the 
riots  of  the  2d  and  3d  of  July,  1863,  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  when  his  candidate  for 
the  Presidency  addressed  the  rioters  ot 
that  city  who  had  kindled  the  flames  of 
war  in  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the 
country  and  murdered  children  and  unof- 


6 


fending  persons — addressed  those  men, 
then  reeking  with  the  crimes  from  which 
they  had  just  come,  as — “my  friends.”  He 
cannot  have  forgotten  the  hostility  which 
his  political  associates  throughout  the  North 
manifested  to  the  enforcement  of  the  draft. 
He  cannot  have  forgotten  the  sympathetic 
speeches  that  were  made  upon  the  floor  of 
this  House  in  the  Thirty-Eighth  and 
Thirty-Ninth  Congresses.  He  cannot  have 
forgotten  the  declarations  of  the  press 
in  various  parts  of  the  country  rep¬ 
resenting  the  Democratic  party,  de¬ 
nouncing  every  measure  for  the  prosecu¬ 
tion  of  the  war  and  holding  up  the  gene¬ 
rals  of  the  army  and  the  men  intrusted  with 
civil  affairs  to  the  odium  of  the  people  of 
the  country,  and  to  the  anathemas  of  the 
world.  More  than  this,  to  day  the  party 
with  which  he  cooperates  is  in  sympathy 
with  rebels.  They  demand  the  prostration 
of  the  loyal  people  of  the  South,  black  and 
white,  and  the  restoration  to  authority  in 
those  States  of  the  men  who  had  been  en¬ 
gaged  in  the  rebellion.  Let  me  read;  and 
you,  men  who  fought  at  Shiloh,  you  who 
were  encamped  before  Vicksburg  in  1863, 
you  who  returned  maimed  and  wounded 
from  the  bloody  fields  of  Antietam  and 
Gettysburg,  you  who  marched  with  Sher¬ 
man  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea,  you 
who  remain  of  that  bloody  band  who  fought 
the  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  and  who 
finally  at  Appomattox  Court-house  saw  the 
surrender  of  Lee  and  the  end  of  the  rebel¬ 
lion,  listen  to  what  the  organ  of  the  Demo¬ 
cratic  party,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1868,  under 
the  influence  of  the  rebels  assembled  in 
council  at  Tammany  Hall,  said  to  the  peo¬ 
ple  of  New  York  and  of  the  country  con¬ 
cerning  the  men  who  inaugurated  the  re¬ 
bellion,  and  whom  you  subdued  in  arms. 
I  read  from  the  New  York  World ,  and  first 
the  heading: 

THE  DELEGATES. 

PERSONAL  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE 
CONVENTION. 

THEIR  RECORD  OF  SERVICES  TO  THE  NATION. 

THE  MEN  ON  WHOM  THE  REPUB¬ 
LIC  RELIES  FOR  S  A.  L  VAT  ION. 

lion.  John  A..  Winston  is  also  an  ex-Governor, 
a  merchant  of  Mobile,  was  an  old-line  Whig,  sup¬ 
ported  Douglas  in  1860;  was  colonel  of  the  ninety- 
first  Alabama  infantry,  U.  S.  A. 

Then  comes : 

James  H.  Clinton  is  chairman  of  the  Democratic 
State  Executive  Committee,  an  old-line  Whig, 
Douglas  elector;  during  the  war  was  a  general  of 
cavalry  in  the  conlederate  service. 

That  is  his  “record  of  services  to  the  na¬ 
tion!”  He  i3  one  of  the  men  on  whom  the 
Republic  relies  for  salvation  in  the  estima¬ 
tion  of  the  friends  of  the  gentleman  from 
Illinois. 

Hear  still  further  from  South  Carolina,  in 
this  record  of  men  on  whom  the  Republic 
relies  for  salvation,  the  record  of  the  ser¬ 
vices  of  General  Wade  Hampton  to  the 
nation : 

Ho  heads  the  delegation.  He  was  one  of  tho 
most  prominent  cavaLy  generals  on  the  Southern 
8ide  during  the  war.  Jtio  is  unquestiona  bly  tho 


leading  man  in  South  Carolina,  and  fills  more 
nearly  than  any  other  the  place  left  vacant  by 
Calhoun  in  the  Learts  of  tho  white  peo  p 

Mr.  MULLINS.  Will  the  gentleman 
allow  me  to  interrupt  him  a  moment? 

Mr.  BOUTWELL.  No,  not  now.  These 
are  the  men  on  whom  the  gentleman  from 
Illinois  (Mr.  Marshall)  and  his  associ¬ 
ates  rely  “for  the  salvation  of  the  Repub¬ 
lic.”  Yes,  they  are  the  men  on  whom  the 
Democracy  relies  for  the  salvation  of  the 
Republic,  according  to  their  ideas  of  salva¬ 
tion.  And  they  are  as  much  in  error  in 
regard  to  salvation  in  this  world  as  I  have 
no  doubt  they  are  in  regard  to  salvation  in 
another  state  of  existence. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  I  hope 
the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr. 
Boutwell)  will  allow  another  extract  to 
he  read  in  regard  to  another  distinguished 
member  of  the  Democratic  party. 

Mr.  BOUTWELL.  I  will  yield  to  the 
gentleman  for  that  purpose. 

Mr.  BROOKS.  I  hope  the  gentleman 
will  also  allow  to  be  read  some  extracts  I 
have  from  letters  written  by  Governor 
Holden,  of  North  Carolina. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  I  ask 
the  Clerk  to  read  the  extract  I  send  up  to 
his  desk. 

The  Clerk  read  as  follows  : 

‘:GENER4L  N.  B.  FORREST. 

General  Forrest  is  the  hero  of  the  Tennessee 
delegation,  and  divides  attention  in  the  conven¬ 
tion  with  Wade  Hampton.  As  a  cavalry  officer 
he  had  no  equal  in  the  war,  and  even  now  as  he 
moves  up  and  down  the  hall,  his  tall,  handsome 
figure  looming  up,  and  his  fine  face  lit,  the  same 
old  soldier-spirit  is  strong  within  the  man,  and  he 
evidently  mistakes  the  secretary’s  voice  for  a 
bugle-call,  and  his  nature  will  not  let  him  keep 
still  or  steadfast  in  one  place.  The  General,  al¬ 
though  in  the  costume  of  a  civilian,  has  about  him 
the  look  of  one  who  wants  to  be  occupied  and 
doing  something.  His  manner  is  free  and  pleas¬ 
ing,  with  a  characteristic  bonhommie  which  is 
quite  taking  with  all  whom  he  is  introduced  to. 
He  does  cot  say  much  at  present,  and  cannot  sit 
quietly  because  of  his  nature,  but  will  be  hoard 
of,  no  doubt,  before  the  convention  closes.” 

Mr.  MULLINS.  That  is  the  hero  of  the 
bloody  massacre  at  Fort  Pillow. 

Mr.  BOUTWELL.  I  have  now  said 
enough  to  show  that  the  Democratic  party 
were  in  sympathy  with  the  men  who  inau¬ 
gurated  this  rebellion  ;  that  they  were  in 
sympathy  with  the  men  who  carried  it  on  ; 
that  they  are  now  in  sympathy  with  the 
men  who  propose  to  inaugurate  another  re¬ 
bellion,  of  whom  the  leader  is  Frank  Blair. 

I  say  this  to  the  people  of  the  country : 
When  you  look  at  the  bills  reported  by  the 
Committee  on  Appropriations  and  find 
$30,000,000  for  pensions  to  the  widows  and 
orphans  of  the  dead,  and  to  the  wounded 
and  maimed  of  the  living,  know  that  it  is 
the  Democratic  party  which  has  imposed 
this  responsibility  of  justice  and  benevo¬ 
lence  upon  you.  WUen  the  taxgatherer 
comes  and  demands  five  per  cent,  of  the 
income  of  each  man  in  this  country, 
know  that  that  is  the  tribute  which  you 
pay  for  the  supremacy  of  the  Democracy 
up  to  the  year  1861.  When  you  are 
called  upon  to  appropriate  $130,000,000  a 


year  to  meet  the  interest  upon  the  public 
debt, know  that  that  is  the  penalty  the  people 
of  this  country  pay  for  having  so  long  con¬ 
fided  their  interests  to  the  Democratic  party. 
When  the  figures  are  presented  to  your  con¬ 
sideration,  representing  the  present  amount 
of  tbe  national  debt,  $2,500,000,000,  then 
remember  that  that  is  a  burden  upon  you 
and  your  posterity  for  the  folly  of  your  gen¬ 
eration  in  intrusting  the  public  interests  to 
the  care  of  the  Democratic  party. 

The  cemeteries  of  the  dead,  South  and 
North,  filled  with  the  humble  testimonials 
there  raised  to  the  memory  of  the  men  who 
fell  in  defence  of  the  Union,  are  sacred  and 
affecting  evidence  of  the  penalty,  O  people 
of  America!  which  you  have  paid  for  in¬ 
trusting  the  destinies  of  this  country  to  a 
party  that  acknowledged  fealty  to  nothing 
but  the  right  of  States  to  tyrannize  over  an 
oppres-ed  people  and  to  enslave  four  mil¬ 
lions  of  human  beings.  Those  four  mil¬ 
lions  of  people,  by  the  grace  of  God  and 
against  the  protest  of  the  Democratic  party, 
have  teen  emancipated  and  made  citizens 
of  the  Republic. 

And  now,  in  this  last  struggle,  we  are 
moving  to  the  consummation  of  the  great 
work  we  have  in  hand,  which  is  that  those 
whom  we  have  redeemed  from  slavery 
shall  be  endowed  with .  all  the  rights  of 
men,  rights  guarded  by  the  power  of  forty 
millions  of  people,  who  have  learned  the 
lessons  of  truth  and  freedom  in  defiance  of 
the  teachings  of  the  Democratic  party  of 
this  country. 

Mr.  SCHENCK.  Mr.  Speaker,  we 
’  accept  that  appeal  to  the  people  and  to  the 
polls.  Yv'e  shall  be  there  to  meet  these 
threats  made  in  18G2,  repeated  in  1864,  re¬ 
hearsed  again  in  1866,  and  now  revived  in 
1868 — to  meet  them  with  the  same  result, 
the  putting  down  by  the  power  of  the 
people  of  men  who  have  assailed  every  in¬ 
terest  of  the  country  and  sought  to  betray 
the  loyal  men  of  the  nation  into  the  hands  of 
the  country’s  enemies.  Row,  Mr.  Speaker, 
I  am  glad  that  this  little  preliminary  dis¬ 
cussion,  to  be  followed  hereafter  by  those 
others  to  which  the  gentleman  refers  us, 
has  taken  place.  I  am  glad  that  the  gen¬ 
tleman  from  Wisconsin  (Mr.  Eldridge) 
interrupted  my  friend  from  Massachusetts 
(Mr.  Boutwell)  with  his  interrogatory, 
-which  elicited  some  allusion  to  the  issues 
now  just  made  up  again  in  new  form  before 
the  people  of  this  country.  What  was  that 
interruption f  The  gentleman  from  Wis¬ 
consin  was  opposed  to  the  bill  now  under 
consideration  because  he  claimed  that  there 
are  no  States  which  are  in  any  sense  what¬ 
ever  out  of  their  normal  relations  to  the 
rest  of  the  Union.  He  made  the  objection 
because  he  claims  that  every  one  of  those 
States  is  now  entitled  to  representation 
upon  this  floor  and  in  the  Senate  and  to 
votes  in  the  Electoral  College  for  President 
and  Vice  President.  Why,  sir,  this  is  only 
in  accord  with  what  we  have  heard  and 
witnessed  all  along.  These  gentlemen, 


short  of  memory,  have  forgotten  that  there 
has  been  a  war,  and  would  have  us,  follow¬ 
ing  them,  shut  our  eyes  to  that  historical 
fact  and  to  the  consequences  of  that  war. 

But  let  us  take  the  gentleman  upon  his 
own  ground.  Let  us  assume  that  these 
States  are  now  entitled  to  vote  for  President 
and  Vice  President;  and  that  the  govern¬ 
ments  of  these  States  are  now  to  be  recog. 
nized.  What  governments  of  those  States? 
Gentlemen  on  the  other  side  have  failed  to 
tell  us.  Are  we  to  recognize  those  govern¬ 
ments  which  existed  prior  to  1861?  An¬ 
drew  Johnson,  in  his  celebrated  North 
Carolina  proclamation  and  other  papers  of 
like  character,  declared  (and  gentlementon 
the  other  side  have  indorsed  the  declara¬ 
tion)  that  all  civil  governmen  within  the 
limits  of  those  States  had  been  destroyed. 
Surely,  then,  the  gentleman  from  Wiscon¬ 
sin  cannot  mean  that  we  should  recognize 
the  State  governments  which  existed  prior 
to  1861.  Are  we,  then,  to  recognize  the 
civil  governments  set  up  by  Andrew  John¬ 
son,  assuming  to  be  himself  the  United 
States,  and  therefore  authorized  to  carry 
out  the  guarantee  of  the  Constitution  to¬ 
ward  States  found  without  civil  gov¬ 
ernments?  Gentlemen  do  not  pretend  that 
now.  We  know  they  clo  not  mean  to  ad¬ 
vocate  the  recognition  of  the  loyal  govern¬ 
ments  which  have  grown  up  under  the 
legislation  of  Congress;  for  against  those 
governments  they  are  all  the  time  array¬ 
ing  themselves.  Then  what  governments 
are  they  that  are  to  send  their  Representa¬ 
tives  to  Congress,  their  Senators  to  the 
other  end  of  this  Capitol,  their  electors  to 
vote  for  President  and  Vice  President? 
Frank  Blair  has  told  us,  and  it  will  not  do 
for  gentlemen  now  to  attempt  to  throw  off 
that  exposition  of  their  creed,  that  declara¬ 
tion  of  their  position,  which  has  been  so 
clearly  defined  for  them  before  the  country 
by  their  candidate  for  the  Vice  Presidency. 

The  gentleman  from  New  Yor.k  (Mr. 
Brooks)  and  others  are  uneasy.  They 
tell  us  that  the  letter  of  Frank  Blair  is  not 
their  platform.  What  is  their  platform  ? 
Why,  sir,  on  Monday,  the  6th  day  of  this 
month,  the  Democratic  party  in  their  con¬ 
vention  at  New  York  agreed  upon  a  series 
of  propositions,  many  of  them  mere 
axioms  in  politics  against  which  nobody 
will  protest ;  other  generalities  and  com¬ 
monplaces  about  which  no  cpiestion  is 
likely  ever  to  be  made  ;  others  a  wrapping- 
up  of  meaning  in  ambiguous  phrase  with 
the  intention  of  catching  people  of  the 
widest  disimilarity  of  opinion,  so  that  your 
Chase  men  and  your  Pendleton  men  might 
meet  upon  the  same  ground.  And  that 
they  say  is  their  platform.  That  was  on 
the  6th  of  July.  Three  days  afterward,  on 
the  9th  of  July,  when,  throwing  aside  all 
others,  they  had  taken  Horatio  Seymour  as 
their  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  and  the 
question  came  who  should  be  their  second 
bn  the  ticket,  Frank  Blair  marched  into 
that  hall,  not  in  person,  but  through  the 


8 


representatives  of  himself  and  his  posi¬ 
tion,  with  a  platform  in  his  hand,  which  he 
presents  to  these  men,  in  which  he  not  only 
lays  down  distinct  positive  views,  which 
they  by  acclamation  adopted  with  him,  but 
which  he  presents  to  them  accompanied 
with  the  declaration  that  all  else  they  have 
been  declaring  about  is  of  no  consequence 
whatever,  and  this  which  he  presents  is  the 
only  issue.  Now,  see  whether  I  overstate 
it.  That  is  his  platform  thus  presented. 
They  say  it  would  be  rather  a  sudden 
change  between  the  Gth  of  July  and  the 
9th  of  July  to  have  altered  their  whole  po¬ 
sition.  Is  there  any  change  impracticable 
to  these  men  ?  Do  they  not  fight  for  Sey¬ 
mour  and  Blair  just  as  they  would  have 
fought  for  Chase  or  Hendricks  or  for  Han¬ 
cock,  had  they  been  nominated  ?  If  any 
man  thinks  he  can  find  a  plank  too  short  to 
afford  room  to  allow  the  Democratic  party 
to  turn  a  somersault  on  in  three  days  or  one 
day,  or  in  three  hours  or  one  hour,  he 
knows  less  of  the  history  of  that  party  than 
Ido. 

Mr.  JONES,  (Democrat,)  of  Kentucky. 
I  ask  the  gentleman  to  let  me  put  a  ques¬ 
tion  to  him. 

Mr.  SCHENCK.  I  cannot  yield.  They 
cannot  plead  shortness  of  time,  especially 
they  cannot  plead  it  in  the  face  of  the  re¬ 
corded  facts;  and  I  repeat,  therefore,  al¬ 
though  they  adopted  that  platform  under 
which  they  seek  now  to  take  refuge  on  the 
Gth,  by  the  decision  of  the  9th  they  virtu¬ 
ally  threw  it  aside  when  they  nominated 
this  candidate,  whom  they  accepted  by  ac¬ 
clamation,  who  said  there  was  one  great 
issue,  and  on  that  they  meant  to  go  to  the 
country. 

I  will  have  some  of  this  literature  re¬ 
peated  in  order  to-  refresh  the  memory  of 
gentlemen  on  the  other  side,  although  it 
has  been  read  in  full  at  the  Clerk’s  desk. 
First,  as  to  that  platform.  Here  it  is  in  a 
few  lines : 

“There  is  tout  one  way  to  restore  the  Govern¬ 
ment  and  the  Constitution,  and  that  is  for  the 
President  elect  to  declare  these  acts  null  and 
void.” 

Not  submit  them  to  the  Supreme  court. 
Oh,  no!  the  Democratic  President  elect  is  to 
declare  them  by  his  first  proclamation  nul-1 
and  void. 

“Compel  the  army  to  undo  its  usurpations  at 
the  Souih,  disperse  the  carpet-bag  SState  govern¬ 
ments,  allow  the  white  people  to  organize  their 
own  governments,  and  elect  Senators  and  Repre¬ 
sentatives. ’* 

Your  way  is  to  have  the  President  sweep 
aside  all  acts  of  the  legislative  power,  and 
to  substitute  creatures  in  the  shape  of 
State  governments  of  his  own  making  in¬ 
stead  of  those  established  by  law. 

“The  House  of  Representatives  will  contain  a 
majority  of  Democrats  from  the  North.  ” 

May  be  so ! 

“And  they  will  admit  the  Representatives 
elected  by  the  white  people  of  the  South,  and  with 


the  cooperation  of  the  President  it  will  not  be 
difficult  to  compel  the  Senate  to  submit.  ” 

This  is  your  platform,  moved  as  an 
amendment  to  the  resolutions  of  July  6,  and 
you  shalb  hear  of  it  everywhere,  whether 
you  will  or  no.  You  will  have  to  stand  on  it 
and  abide  by  it. 

Let  me  go  on  with  Genl.  Blair: 

“I  repeat  that  this  is  the  real  and  only  question 
which  we  should  allow  to  control  us:  Shall  we 
submit  to  the  usurpations  by  which  the  Govern¬ 
ment  has  been  overthrown,  or  shall  we  exert  our¬ 
selves  for  its  full  and  complete  restoration?  It  is 
idle  to  talk  oi  bonds,  greenbacks,  gold,  the  public 
faith,  and  tie  public  credit.” 

Away  with  your  generalities,  common¬ 
places,  platitudes,  and  delusions  in  the 
pretended  platform  which  you  adopted  three 
days  ago.  That  is  not  the  issue.  There  is 
but  one  real,  true  issue;  all  those  are  of  the 
slightest  possible  consequence  which  three 
days  ago  you  thought  worthy  to  be  made 
the  declaration  of  your  faith. 

“I  wis-h  to  stand  before  the  convention  upon 
this  issuet  but  it  is  one  which  embraces  everything 
else  that  is  of  value  in  its  large  and  comprehensive 
results.  It  is  the  one  thing  that  includes  all  that 
Is  worth  a  contest,  and  without  it  there  is\)o* 
thing  that  gives  dignity,  honor,  or  value  to  the 
struggle.’ * 

Mr.  MARSHALL.  I  raise  the  question  *v 
of  order  that  the  gentleman  is  not  discuss¬ 
ing  the  question  before  the  House.  [Laugh¬ 
ter.]  Unless  lie  gives  a  chance  on  this 
side  I  shall  object  to  his  proceeding.  I 
have  no  objection  at  all  if  he  will  permit 
us  to  have  one-fourth  the  time  he  occupies. 

The  SPEAKER  pro  tempore ,  (Mr.  Sco¬ 
field  in  the  chair. )  The  gentleman  will 
confine  himself  to  the  subject  of  debate 

Mr.  SCHENCK.  That  is  precisely  what 
I  am  doing.  It  is  claimed  that  there  are 
or  are  to  be  certain  Democratic  State  gov¬ 
ernments  established  at  the  South  by  these 
means,  which,  being  establisned,  will 
obviate  all  necessity  for  passing  this 
bill.  We  disagree  to  that;  and  I  com¬ 
ment  upon  the  character  of  those  govern¬ 
ments  and  the  issue  sought  to  be  made 
before  the  people  by  which  those  govern¬ 
ments  are  to  be  thus  made  the  law  for  the 
Southern  States.  I  say,  therefore,  there  is 
but  one  distinct  issue,  the  issue  which  Gene¬ 
ral  Blair  concludes  his  letter  by  claiming  to 
be  the  only  “one  that  gives  dignity,  honor,  or 
value  to  the  struggle.”  It  is  to  be  found 
in  the  secondary  platform  overriding 
the  first  accepted  by  these  gentlemen,  and 
it  now  presents  the  one  ground  upon  which 
they  go  to  the  people.  Why,  sir,  how  was 
General  Blair  taken?  How  were  any  of 
the  candidates  taken?  Is  there  anything 
in  the  selection  of  either  of  them  which 
would  indicate  that  the  gentlemen  would 
not  have  taken  this  as  their  position  in  re¬ 
gard  to  these  Southern  States? 

[At  this  point,  Mr.  Marshall  persisting  ia 
his  point  of  order,  the  Speaker  ruled  General 
Schenck’s  remarks  as  not  pertinent  to  the  hill, 
and  the  discussion  closed  ] 


CHRONICLE  PRINT.,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


